One of my Mother’s favorite casserole recipes. She had many. Written in pencil on the back of a place mat, it’s in her handwriting. Seeing her handwriting is precious to me. It isn’t fancy, but it’s good if my Mother is sharing it.
8 oz Macaroni
3 T Oleo
2 C Milk
2 T Cornstarch or flour
1/4 C Grated Onion
1/2 t Dry Mustard
1/4 t Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 t Salt
1/8 t Pepper
8 oz Grated Cheddar Cheese
Cook macaroni. Drain and place in buttered 2 qt casserole.. In sauce pan melt butter, saute onion, stir in flour. Slowly add milk until thickened. Add spices, cheese, stir until melted. Pour over macaroni, sprinkle with crumbs. Bake at 350 deg 30-40 minutes. (She didn’t say what kind of crumbs. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.)
Another recipe from “Toots”, my Mother’s friend, who also happened to be a registered nurse. She was not only a great nurse, but also a good cook. This recipe in her handwriting says, “it’s good”. I believe her.
My friend Dixie and I met in a 60+ Chatroom in 1998. We’ve been internet friends ever since. She is a lovely lady and a great cook from what I hear, but for me, that’s not as important as the wonderful friendship between us. Thank heaven for the internet. One of us is living in Florida and one in Michigan, meeting once in Oklahoma face to face in the nineties when my family was on a trip through the West. Many friends were made during that chatroom experience over a ten year period. As the years go by, it pays to try some of the new inventions…maybe you should try Dixie’s recipe too. (She got it originally from the Rachel Ray show. There goes that internet again.)
TOTAL TIME 30 MIN
ACTIVE 30 MIN
YIELD 4 SERVINGS
LEVEL EASY
INGREDIENTS
4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast (no tenders)
Salt and Pepper
AP flour, about 1 cup
3 Large Eggs
1 scant tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp Pecorino Romano (Various cheeses of Italian origin made from sheep’s milk) or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil or vegetable oil (light in color olive oil or safflower oil)
2 lemons
3 tbsp butter
2 large cloves garlic, 1 crushed or chopped, 1 halved
About 3/4 cup white wine
1 tbsp Calabrian chili paste, harissa or sriracha
About 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
A handful flat-leave parsley, for serving
1 loaf ciabatta bread, 12 to 14 inches long, halved
EVOO, for drizzling (extra virgin olive oil)
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
1 large bundle arugula, cleaned, or boxed leaves
Gather your ingredients and a gel board to prepare chicken.
Halve the chicken breasts horizontally and butterfly them. Use a mallet to thin meat or even it out if needed–it depends on the size of the chicken breasts. Season meat with salt and pepper.
Set a station up: Flour in shallow dish; eggs beaten with mustard, milk, salt, pepper and cheese; large frying pan with oil (4 to 5 turns of the pan); a baking sheet with wire rack inserted and lined with parchment paper to remove the chicken to.
Preheat the oil in skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Coat chicken 2 at a time in flour, shake off excess to drip off. Cook chicken 3-4 minutes on each side. Repeat, removing cooked chicken to wire rack. Once chicken is cooked, slice and lightly brown 1 lemon; add to pan with chicken. Wipe excess oil from pan, return to heat and add butter. When it foams add 1 clove crushed garlic, juice of 1 lemon, wine and chili paste and reduce abut 3 minutes. Add stock and reduce 5 minutes more. Pick and chop the parsley.
Char the bread over gas burner or under broiler. Rub charred bread with halved garlic, drizzle with EVOO, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and cut bread into chunks.
Add the chicken back to sauce and heat the meat, through, 3-4 minutes, turning occasionally. Add the sliced lemons and coat with sauce. Add parsley and transfer to plates. Serve cutlets with a small handful of arugula leaves alongside and some charred bread for mopping.
This little recipe is written on a piece of note paper and it’s all ragged around the edges as if it’s been handled a bit. However, it’s in my Mother’s handwriting, so I know it’s a good one.
1 7 oz pkg Minute Rice
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Milk (soup can)
Mix together & pour into 9×13 dish.
Over the top, lay pieces of uncooked chicken. Sprinkle 1 pkg. dried onion soup mix over the chicken.
Visiting friends in Ohio when Nickie shared her wonderful spaghetti recipe with us. Simply done, smells great while it’s cooking and tastes unbelievably good when we can it and use it throughout the year.
40 bush tomatoes (approximately) run thru blender
12 medium onions (run thru blender)
6 green peppers (run thru blender)
Cook down and add
2 TBLSp Basil
2 TBLSp Oregano
2TBLSp Parsley
16 oz vegetable oil
2TBLSp garlic
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
Cook some more…then can it
Makes 8 qts
Folks used to can every year. Some still do and it takes us back to the days of Mom and Grandma and the great smell in the house while preparations are underway.
Mary Anne’s Healthy Homemade Bread I lay claim to this recipe. Homemade bread is my favorite. I was trying to find a way to make it so it wouldn’t be fattening; decided to check out the calories in the shortening to see if I could replace it with applesauce for the moisture. Turns out the shortening was 1800 calories against 100 calories of the same amount of applesauce. EUREKA! All I needed to find out was how it would taste. It tastes WONDERFUL. There is no flavor of applesauce, just really good homemade bread. This recipe makes 7-8 loaves. 7 would be the best but you could make each loaf a bit smaller and come up with 8. I freeze mine. Hope you take the time to try it. It takes the better part of a day to make a batch of bread, but you’ll feel so good about yourself, it will be well worth the effort. (The compliments are nice too.)
1/4 cup yeast, 2 TBLSP sugar, 2 1/2 cups very warm (not hot) water. Mix it well. Let stand for at least ten minutes to get the yeast working. It will be just fine when you get ready to add it even if it’s more than 10 minutes
2 1/2 cups scalded milk (put the pan over low burner until slight skim forms on top) Use regular milk or evaporated. Let the milk cool to warm. (Sometimes I place the pan in a larger pan with a couple of inches of cold water in the bottom to get the milk cooled down.)
1 cup UNSWEETENED applesauce, 1 cup white sugar, 1 1/2 TBLSP salt..mix well
Add milk and yeast mixture to applesauce and sugar and salt
Mix thoroughly with large mixer – I use a large Kitchen Aid Mixer..I’ve had my mixer since 1983 and I’ve never had a bit of trouble with it. Don’t know if they make equipment to last that long anymore.
7 eggs beaten (add to liquid last)..mix well
Add 5 lb flour, mixing slowly, but well, after each addition. I prefer King Arthur Bread Flour.
Roll out dough on WELL floured board or counter. My mixer isn’t large enough to completely mix the amount of flour needed. The remainder will be added as you knead the dough. You may need to use a bit more regular flour. You’ll know the texture.
Let raise until double in size
Place in greased pan…you’ll need a large one. Let rise until doubled in bulk. About 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Cover dough with clean cloth as it rises. I let mine sit on top of my stove and turn the oven on to about 200 to make a warm place.)
Punch down and let it rest for 10 minutes
Form the dough into a long round piece and cut the 7 or 8 sections for the loaves. (You’ll figure it out.)
Let raise until doubled in size
You’ll need bread pans according to your number. (Of course) I’ve found that using Parchment paper is the best lining for the dough. It keeps the sides from sticking and pops right off when the bread is finished. I use a spray can with shortening to put a little on the tops of the loaves before I bake them. Sometimes it makes the tops look wrinkly when they’re done. It’s up to you. Do it..or don’t do it. The bread will be good. (Again, I lay a cloth over the loaves as they raise.)
Let the loaves raise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk.
Bake at 395 deg. for 25-30 minutes. When they look right, you’ll know it.
Brush tops with butter if you wish. May make the top wrinkled, doesn’t hurt the taste.
I use 2 gallon freezer bags for one loaf. There isn’t enough room for 2 loaves and a 1 gallon freezer bag isn’t large enough. Oh well.
Using 2 gallon freezer bags. 1 gallon bag not large enough.
